Little Girls

Yesterday Elena graduated for Elementary school. It has been a very quick three years. We showed up at the door step of Conger's Elementary school with two non-english speaking little girls and three years later we have these two wonderful, amazing young ladies. I use the term ladies very broadly. You know cause they are female and they are reminded daily to use their manners and...
   Really, they are amazing girls. I could not be more pleased with them.
   Elena's graduation from Conger's was to happen at three in the afternoon. The temperature was to hit the low nineties for the third day in a row, so the ceremony was moved to South High School's auditorium. It was such a contrast to last years with Nastia. Last year I was stressed and I didn't tell my boss I was going to it, because it would of caused more trouble for me then it was worth.

And my boss called in the middle of the ceremony. This year we were in the South school's auditorium, it was nice and cool. I was not pleased at the shape of some of the seats in the auditorium. Some were broken and leaned while others were completely missing.
   The show started with the principle, Mrs Ryan making an opening statement, and I'm sorry after that I relaxed and  woke up only just before they introduced the students to walk across the stage to receive their certificate.
   When I was in school, stop it was not that long ago. And yes the dinosaurs were all dead. When I was in school, there was nothing for going from elementary school to junior high, you got a dance.

  When I was in fifth grade in 1968, they moved the sixth grade to the junior high. The next year they moved the sixth grade back to the elementary schools saying sixth graders were not ready for junior high. I got to be the oldest grade in school for two straight years. Back then they had something in elementary school called safeties. These were kids who were given badges and told the kids to stay against the wall when they went in a certain direction when we were dismissed at the end of the day. They don't have them any more. I loved being a safety.
   After the ceremony, we went to dinner at Charlie Brown's

Fingerprints, 9-11 and the government

We are getting closer to the twenty-ninth and we are still trying to get the paper work together. We are experiencing the fingerprint and background check portion of our Magical Mystery Tour. It was a whole hell of a lot of fun getting our fingerprints last time and this one has got me doubled over I'm enjoying it so much.
   Last time we went to the Police dept and got our finger prints. It was on their paper and if I remember we had to do it over on a different paper. Now we have a new system and it is electronic finger printing. Sounds more expensive as well as more fun. The fun I am having is in the paper work, where else? I go to the website and it explains that we fill out the paperwork on line then make an appointment on line or by telephone then you go to your local Chico's Bail bonds (Bad News Bears reference) and get your finger prints taken. If your have filled out the wrong paperwork, you will not get your money back. No problem, except you can only fill out paperwork for an Alarm installer. Yea, maybe a good career when I retire, oops, I forgot I'm getting two more kids I'm not retiring, I'm getting planted when I die on the job. Anyway, I'm fighting with the paperwork and my wife is at her job long hours (Is she hiding from the paperwork? She did it last time, the paperwork, not hide.) and has no time to do it. So I fight the lonely battle and the clock continues to tick...
   It was fathers day today also and the girls and my wife took me out to Dave and Busters after we got the office cleaned for the bed to go in it for the twenty-ninth. Had fun, everyone was on everyone elses nerves all day long, we needed to get out.

Seems like wev'e been this way before

I took off June 28th and 29th. I'm heading up to Danbury Ct. to help ferry the new kids and their chaperone's around. It sounds like a lot of fun, sort of. They will be going to Chuckie cheese for a few hours then to a women's house to swim and have a barbecue. They all should enjoy the swim and the food, I don't know how much the sixteen year old will enjoy Chuckie cheese. It's been quiet a few years since I was there and it was only once I think. So I don't really remember much about it.

On an off note Cory my nephew flew off to Europe today and I can't believe the man he has become. His Dad would be busting his buttons over his two sons God bless them both.

one lump or two*

    Now a little perspective on my youngest. Even after she gains two siblings she will still be the youngest, but only by seven months. She is quite the interesting character. She is funny, shy, an uninhibited young lady at times (she has flashed me more then once to try to embarrass me.) She has a temper and a mouth that get her into trouble. She is stubborn and willful. Yet she is a push over and very sweet. She is lazy and has no self confidence. Yet what kid at that age ever did. She loves to sing and has written a few songs that are full of heart and beautiful. And she can lie with the best of them when it is in her best interests or when she is caught doing something she shouldn't be doing. She is totally dedicated to her sister and we were afraid she would get lost in the shadows.
* warner bros. bugs bunny cartoon- can you guess the charactor?

The things we do for Wa?

Yea, that and all good deeds require retribution. God's just up there laughing his a.. off at some of us.
   At our meeting in the Village last week, which is good for three child credits toward your ten you must have to show you are a good parent and still think you know all the answers. Just wait for your first refuge to come along. Any way at the meeting Patrice told a story about how she went through all the trouble to make a special Russian dinner for her Russian kids and they preferred hot dogs. This is a perfect example of leaving well enough alone. It was like the time my father told me not to ever sit on the bumper of his truck when he is at a stop. What was the first thing I did when I saw him delivering milk, yes I sat on the bumper of his truck and he was right it was a bad idea, It hurt when he drove off and I fell. Good thing he didn't back up. Here is an other example of if nothing was said I would not of done it .
   I got it in my head to make some simple Russian dishes and decided to make a version of stuffed cabbage and a meat pelmani. I'm not good with dough so I made the Pelmani first and once I got the hang of it, it went quickly. I even floured the finished product before I stacked it up about six high. Is anyone seeing where this is going? I made about forty or so and was very proud of myself.
   Then I went to put them in the boiling water...
   I got about almost half way through them before I realized the Pelmani had become a living breathing mass that refused to come apart.  After the initial twenty-two went in and were floating Teri and I decided the remaining would not separate so they went in all together. Every so often one would get free and float to the surface like a dead body in a horror film. Their pink flesh showing through their torn and ragged skin. Their flesh boiled and toughened. Live and learn. The first twenty-two were OK and I had fun making them and will do it again. The stuffed cabbage remained in the refrigerator for another day.

  Friday was field day for Elena. Nastia kept asking why she could not do it and we kept reminding her she did it last year and the only reason she can't go this year, her sister was there too last year, is she doesn't go to that school any more.

   Teri and I set up chairs and I took some picture and it was a nice day and we got to talk for the first time in a long while.
   Teri and I went out to dinner last night and Teri's dinner didn't sit too well with her so she concentrated on her half pitcher of sangria, which in retrospect was a bad idea to tell her to get. She didn't eat and finished the half pitcher. She said she'd never been that drunk before. I've been with her twenty years and in twenty years that's the truth. She was real relaxed and we called the house to tell them we are on our way home. Elena picks up Nancy's phone and I can't resist playing Chinese food on her.

   It's real simple, in a Chinese voice I tell her to order Chinese food and asked her what she wants. She gets flustered and says we got Pizza. I tell her pizza no good, order Chinese food. Teri's in the background dieing of laughter. Down side the girls saw Teri drunk. Upside they saw her not feeling well today. I hope it is not a big deal as I am making it.

Sunday in the Village with the family

We went down to NYU in Greenwich Village yesterday. I tried to recreate the original trip we, Teri and I took four years ago and they say you can never go home again for a reason. It will always be different.
  The World did cooperate and gave us a mostly nice day and it was even St Anthony's day in the village again, but it was different, we were different. I just didn't realize how different.

   We got to Furman Hall early and decided to walk around until it was time to go inside and we walked with the girls. It wasn't relaxing like it was last time. This time our attention was on the girls who were all over, who wanted to run to the next corner, who wanted to pet every dog that came by and it left us a little out of sorts.
  We stopped at a local grocery store to get the girls carrots and it pleases me to no end that they still enjoy fruits and raw vegetables after three years of an American diet.   We are lucky, we both still have jobs and we both make OK salaries for this area, that doesn't mean that this adoption isn't going to squeeze us a great deal. We are still paying off the first adoption and were in the process of remortgaging the house to make needed improvements when this came up. I've started a low profile donation letter to help off set the cost, but I think I've been to low key about it so I will have to set it up a little. So here it is Send donations to 'The Bridge of Hope 8630 Fenton St. Silver Springs Md. 20910. Put on the check for Anya and Leonid'  100% goes to their adoption and it is tax deductible. Now that wasn't so hard. Am I talking to you or me?

  We got to Furman hall and the crowd was smaller then the last time four years ago, I guess the economy got a lot of people. We were greeted  like old friends and I guess after four years we are. I would like to get more involved in this some day. I think it might be something I would enjoy alot. We sat in the back and had an enjoyable afternoon. The last time we were both intently listening afraid that we would miss some little bit of information that would make the hosting go so terribly wrong. This time we were relaxed and it was easier to pick up a few new ideas that we or at least I didn't know.

  We will be hosting some of the chaperone's it appears on a marathon shopping spree, hey it's OK, it makes it easy to entertain  them. We pick them up in Danbury, (I just can't seem to get away from there.) bring them to the Palisades Center mall, start them off at DSW and work our way around until they are satisfied.
  We got to get up in front of the group and tell stories about our experience hosting our girls in '08. We told the classics and Nastia even said a few words correcting who was in their underwear walking the dog and who was in their underwear skipping rope in the street that first day. To me it was the highlight of the day.

   After the class we decided to go to Lunilla restaurant in little Italy. This is where it went wrong. I wanted to do it and Teri only went along because I wanted to, we walked because it was only a mile and it was cheaper then paying for parking again and Teri is looking real good these days and she is more willing to take a walk of around two plus miles round trip then in the past and did I tell you we are sucking wind on this adoption and the address to donate is above ( wow, it gets easier every time I do it.) As I said before it was a wonderful day except for a little shower when we started. We walked past NYU, who was having some sort of street fair/career day or something and the girls wanted to run again and we got a little lost. We were going by GPS car directions and it took us around the block when all we need to do was walk in the opposite direction and cut about a third of a mile off the trip.
   Dinner was good, except it bothered Teri's stomach and she wasn't feeling good on the way back to the car so when she asked the directions and I said Mulberry to Broadway to third and she thought we needed to go on Bleeker and she wasn't feeling good and we pass Bleeker she got mad and said we should go this way and we went and I got angry and we did finally get to the car. I won't say I was right I'll leave that up to you to say and remember I had the GPS and remember too in this case it did not stand for giant piece of s..t.

  We got into the Mustang, it is a convertible and I got it twelve years ago at the beginning of my mid-life crises and Teri says we need to put the top up. I would drive around in this thing until the rain starts to fill up the interior of the car before I'd put the top up, but I was tired of fighting and so I just did it. It poured and if I had said no to putting the top up it would of put me in a bad postion of having to admit I was wrong so having the top up was not a bd thing. On the ride home Teri still didn't feel good and my leg hurt, but we did not stop or ask to stop I think we both needed to get home and when we did I took care of the garbage and the recyclables . showered and went to bed. That was eight-thirty. Teri came up at ten-thirty and I kissed her good night and we went to sleep both knowing even though it was Monday it would be better then the way Sunday ended. Again You can't go home again for a reason. Everything is different.

Memorial Day 2012

Usual Memorial days are filled with lawn mowing and going to see the parade. Each year we forget about the parade until We, I heard the police siren announcing the parade. Usually Teri is not ready to see the parade and does not go.

   This year was a little different, Elena wanted to be in the parade and got to be a banner holder. Not a bad job. So we all remembered the parade and when it would be. I dropped Elena off at the ambulance corp on Kings highway. I guess what I did really was stop the car in traffic and tell her to get out. And on top of that it was the sight of the middle school, not the elementary. Feeling a little bad I turned around and went back. Just as I feared she was standing around the middle school band a little lost. Nastia was with me and together the three of us found the Congers band just across the street.

 Nastia and I go back home and with Nancy and Teri go to see the parade. Teri wanted to go down to the VFW hall to wait and pick up Elena, but we usually see the parade against the rock wall between S. Conger and S. Harrison, so we waited there. It was a short parade and after Elena passed we went down to the VFW to get her. We got this close up experience of seeing this group of about twelve musicians play so really good music right in front of the reviewing stand, it was great. In this time of war and insanity, patriotic song played very well is special.

   When we got home it was humid and the girls got to go swimming for the second time already this year. I opened the pool to be ready for the end of June not knowing it was going to be a warm May and the polar bear kids would use the 66 degree water. More power to them.

   I mowed the lawn and tried to get ready for the barbecue coming up on Monday. About three in the afternoon it started rumbling thunder. I tried to remember what my mom would of done, but couldn't. So I did what I would do if I was on my boat, First lightening bolt inside. Which is what I did and it seemed a little extreme so I let them stay outside , out of the pool, out of the tree house and just near the the house until the rain started then they wanted to watch the lightening and they ended sitting on my lap on the front porch. After the lightening stopped I let them go out in the rain where they danced and did flips and any silly thing they wanted. I probability shouldn't of.

The New York Aquarium and the Washington DC men

On Sunday, we decided to take the girls to the New York Aquarium and have a little fun. We got a late start and left the house about one pm. Teri's got a wonderful new car, it's a black 2012 Toyota highlander, it's very nice. It fits six people easily and it looks to be the family car of the future, as we grow to a family of six.
   Someone messed with the GPS. It may of happened when I cleaned the finger prints off the screen or it might of happened before then, but something happened to the GPS and it decided to take us on all the back roads it could find to the Aquarium. Now if you don't know the Aquarium is on Surf ave in Brooklyn just down the street from Nathans.I've gone to Nathan's several times while working in the city just for the fun of it and never did I take some of these roads.

   It started out simple enough. Teri looked over the route and it said to go by several roads and get on 95. Not thinking I say OK when Teri says to just go over the Tappan Zee bridge and pick up 95. Once over the bridge it has us get on route 9 south and we weave our way into the Bronx with me alternating between using the GPS and going my own way. We end up in the Bronx over near Fordham college when I decide it is my time to totally ignore the machine and do it the old fashion way if we are ever going to get there. I cross over into Manhattan and think about crossing over to the West side highway, but think the FDR is closer and easier, except there is traffic on it and when we finally get to the Battery tunnel You'd think our troubles would be over, mostly we end up taking more back roads to the aquarium. Once there we fix the GPS so going home will be a breeze.
   Near the end of our trip as we are a few miles away from the Aquarium, Nastia asks why are all these Washington DC men around here. I ask "What do you mean?"
   She goes " Washington DC men, you know the ones with the long beards and the black suits and hats"
   Between giggles Teri tries to explain to her about the people in Williamsburg Brooklyn.

   Once at the Aquarium we see the seal feeding and go through the shark house and by then it is sadly time to leave. We will come back.
   Audry Elliott comes on Thursday to do our home study up date. For me it's a little anticlimatic, Teri was a bit up tight tonight (wednesday night) at least until she vacuumed the house. It should go well... I hope.

If cleaning the pool is assured, you're the one doing it

Sunday was supposed to be the great day of accomplish  alot. The girls caught me as I was going out the door and reminded me that I had promised to open the pool this weekend. With our guests coming at the end of June I didn't want to be still playing with the pool trying to get it clean and clear with them days or hours away, so I opened it.

   I got a pump out to clear off the water on the cover. The pump started sucking up the cover so I uncovered the pool to force the water into one area. The water was a little green but all in all looked good. I gathered the cover to the far end and started sucking the remaining water out, the pump grabbed cover again. So I gave anothe pull on it, but this time an end slipped into the water and a brown stain flowed slowly out dirting the water. I spent several hundred dollars on chemicals last year to clean up dirty water like this and then I didn't want to swim in it so this year I emptied the pool and the girls spent some time in the almost empty pool saying the water is too cold to have their feet in after telling me all day long they would go swimming as soon as the pool is open. They played at cleaning the leaves out of the pool and when they were tired of doing that they went inside and I spent time cleaning out the leaves so we could refill it.

Dear Russian Mother

Inspired by her preformance in Annie I guess, Elena wrote a song about her Russian mother. It is called 'Dear Russian Mother'
Tell me that you love me more then one(once)
I look in your eyes and see you proud.
I run to you, you run to me
I miss you, I miss you
Tell me that you love me more then one (once)
I just want to say I love you with all my heart
I see you cry,
please come back and start a new life
I want to see you one more time.
Tell me that you love me more then once.

A Ham is born if not a star

What seems like way back in September I got Nastia and Elena into the drama clubs in their schools. Both joined a week late. Nastia then got sick for a week and was dropped from the drama club. Elena stayed with her drama club and for the first several months we did not know what she was doing in the play, I kept asking if she was supposed to be there today, until one of the school workers asked me if she really wanted to be in the play? Finally I found out she was an extra in the NYC scene. Perfect for her first part, something in the background so she could get a feel for being on the stage and she could decide if she wanted to go for bigger and better parts.

   Tonight was the second of three performances, we saw the second and third. The first was a dress rehersal for the school. At the end of the two preformances, at the end of the cast introductions when everyone was leaving the stage, she didn't seem to want to leave the stage. Has a star been born or is it just the ham in her coming out. It was fun to see her up there. She seemed a little distracted while on the stage, but I think she enjoyed herself. We'll see what happens next year when it's time to join the drama club again.

   About my last post when I said we were going to adopt children again. Iv'e been asked to refrain from talking about it. The Russian's are a very proud people who take very seriously what happens to their citizens to the point that any child that is adopted from Russia to a foreign country is still considered a Russian citizen. So what Iv'e decided to do with the blessing of the Cradle of hope is to not use any names or pictures of the kids until they are ours, but I will still talk about what is going on. If it is not acceptable then I will wait to post anything about the new kids until they are ours.

Strange days indeed

It seems that when life is good and it's almost that right now, Teri is still working too many hours and gets up early to do it, you just can't let it be. Something comes up that makes you want to change it and everyone is going to secretly think we are crazy, and I would not blame you.
  We are going to host two new kids from Russia. That's not even the crazy part. The younger one is Anya ( pronounced I think as Ann-ya) she is eleven years old and I think she might of not been adopted  previously because she does not want to be separated from her brother, here is the crazy part, he is sixteen. His name is Leonid.
   He wrote a letter that was put up with their pictures and an e-mail sent out. I always hate these e-mails, because they are like bad car crashes, you know it is going to be sad, but you just can't help from looking. Teri looked at it at work and I flipped through it while I was taking a break from my new job. More about that later. In his letter, which I hope to post he writes about how he is willing to give up everything to get adopted with his sister and how he knows the chances are not good. It was a heart breaker. The difference between my wife and I was she called me, while I just wiped a tear from my eye and went back to work. She's a doer, I'm not.
   We started the paperwork officially with the idea just to host, but that has given way quickly to talk of keeping them and how to do it. As long as nothing goes critically wrong we will most likely adopt them.
   Last night Nancy and Thasha, everyones favorite next daughter came over to eat dinner with us. We all gathered around the table to eat garlic chicken, macaroni and cheese and corn. A good meal.

The girls at karate

   Garlic chicken is chicken nuggets, with butter, garlic and bread crumbs. It's not one of those heart health foods and with macaroni and cheese it was definitely not a heart health meal, but it was comfort food and it helped inspire a very fun dinner.
   I'm sure all parents are familiar with the kids game how long can you go without talking. The rules are simple. The kids see how long they can not talk so the parents can have some peace and quiet. Well this game has taken on a life of it's own and last night when Nastia said lets play it I thought it was a game not to be played outside the family, but I didn't say anything. Where this game is different is the adults play and the people who are out try to get the ones who are still in to talk. I find that the most fun so I always talk first and anything goes to make a person talk.
   One of the best things my wife did was to put macaroni and cheese on Nastia's plate.She doesn't like cheese and it almost got her to talk when she saw it. Their was a lot of laughs and it was one of those nights that you hope your child looks back on years later with a warm feeling in their heart.
   I got a new job, with my old company, Consolidated. There are new people and a few changes, but I like the energy and the relaxed atmosphere, it's been a good three weeks. At Marcus I'd begun to dread going back to work starting usually around Sunday afternoon and during the week I would have to force myself to think of something so I would not think about work and get myself all upset and not be able to sleep. Come Friday, I would not be happy the weekend was here because I would have to gear myself up again after relaxing over the weekend. It was time to leave. No problems sleeping now and no problems with Sunday afternoons and I feel my energy coming back. I am different from the last time I was there. My time at Marcus made me a better salesman. I can't deny that.

The Times they are a-changin

The times they are a-changin
 a relationship is like a shark, it's got to keep movin, I think we have a dead shark on our hands.

Thank you to Bob Dylan and Woody Allen for putting into words the last few months of life. Amanda started living with us and about a month ago I started taking my daughters to the park and they convinced me to play basketball. They wanted to play games to twenty and play full court and I'd look at them and ask them if they were trying to kill me? I knew I was getting older, but I never felt as old as when I started taking jump shots from the top of the key and the ball would hit nothing. These were shots that in the past would at least bounce off the rim or slide up against the backboard, then fall off to one side or the other.

Time square february school project reading in the wildest places

Super Mario in Time Square

  We would play almost half court games, which means I would bring the ball out past the three point line and if the girls get the ball they would shot it up at the basket no matter what happened. The girls learned to cheat rather quickly. They would pull and lean on me and if I called a foul they would plead innocent. In most games I would pull ahead in the beginning as they fought who would get the ball and shot it. Every game I would point this out to them and as soon as they quit fighting they would pass the ball and I would loosen up on the defence and they would score and most of the time win. I think they have won half the time.
    Two big events happened this week. On Friday, my thirteen year old daughter, Nastia complained that she had a headache, but I made her go to school. About ten-thirty the school calls and says she is not feeling good and would like to come home. I pick her up and let her stay alone for a few hours. Teri thinks she might be getting migraine headaches. I'm a cold hearted bastard when it comes to pain. When I was sick, I still went to school. If someone attacked me with a meat clever and left it sticking out of my head, I'd still go to school. If asked about it I'd say I got a little headache, I'm OK. Now the flip side of this is when I was there I never did anything, go figure. Back to Nastia, she feels better about the time school is over, of course and enjoys the rest of the day.
   On Saturday, we have Nancy and Amanda down stairs doing something, I'm in the bedroom watching TV when Nastia calls out to me "Daddy" I go to the bathroom door and ask her what. She says " whats it mean when you get black stuff?"
  I say "What do you mean?"
   "You know"
   I say "No I don't, where's it coming from?"  The first hint I knew I was in trouble.
   "From my va-jin-ya"
give me credit I hang in there. "Is it really red or is it black" I ask.
   "well its really red."
   "Well you've just grown up." As I am saying that I hear giggles from down stairs. "Let me get your Aunt Nancy". I'm a little out of my realm, (you want to talk about wet dreams or shrinkage after swimming I'm you man) I know when to hand it over to the experts.
   Teri wasn't home, when she calls up later in a sad little voice she says " my baby's grown up"
The experts get Nastia all set up and she walk around saying " this things uncomfortable, do I have to wear it?"
   And of course I have to tell her I don't think they are supposed to be comfortable. Then the fun starts when Nastia asks me questions about getting her period and all my replies start with "I don't know I never had one, but..."
   On a lighter note, we went to see the three stooges on a Tuesday and used discount tickets, only spent ten dollars. The movie wasn't bad, it also didn't deviate much from their well known stick, which was most likely the best way to go. Nastia and Elena were in hysterics over the film. They also have this habit of talking to the screen and they need to work on there church whispers. So if you ever bring them to the movies bring plenty of  'shhhh's with you.
   Anyone  want to baby sit two adorable kids for the summer, boy is summer camp pricey.
 

When your daughters are bitches, should you tell them?

Before I had kids and had all the answers, I always admired the fact that my brother Karl never cursed in front of his daughter. I imagined it was easy and if I ever had kids I would do it. It would show how in control of my life I was and how superior of a parent I was. (I hope your laughing as much as I am.)
My favorite question back then was "Why don't they stop their kids from doing that?" Only now do I have the answer; it's I'm tired of them not listening and I'm willing to be thought a bad parent for a while just to keep my sanity and not be arrested for yelling at my child in public. Which all of those superior people, without children now demand.
  I now have two daughters and I have also rediscovered my bad temper. Long ago I thought I had slayed that dragon and anytime I lost my temper was for a good reason.

  Well, just like I no longer have all the answers to raising kids, I no longer feel everytime I lose my temper it is for a good reason and there are times where I will tell my daughters "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve to be yelled at like that." With the hope that they will not be as bad with their temper as their dear old dad.
  All this leads up to the day I called Elena a bitch to her face. It was a friday night and we went out to eat at a restaurant called Gilligan's. It has a low priced menu and a relaxed atmosphere. I don't remember all of the story, but Teri had gone to the bathroom and Elena was slouched down in her chair and I said something to her and she gave a wise answer, puberty you know. So I told her to sit up and quit being, I stopped for a moment before I gave myself the mental go ahead to call her a bitch. I don't know why I did. It just seemed to be the word that fit best and at the time I could not think of any word better. I also thought if she was being one she must of said it or at least of been one to someone else. I know I'm trying to justify using bad laungage to my daughter. I did preface this by saying I have a bad temper. Am I saying it is my temper that caused my to call Elena a bitch or that it was better to call her that then to yell at her, but most of all she was being a bitch.
  A couple of weeks later the three of us are in a car going home from a trip to the eye doctor. It is at least half an hour drive time to get there and an other half an hour to get back, plus all the can I have some bread from the platter and why do I have to sit right in the chair and I'm bored and why do you wish mommy had taken us? So with all that going on and I having forgotten the appointment, my daughters are being noisy and again Elena develops an attitude and again I call her a bitch. This time I am a little surprised when she asks me "what is a bitch"
 I resist the easy out by saying "You"  and I begin to tell her what a bitch is and why it is not nice.
  She says "Daddy, I'm not a bitch and that is not a nice thing to call your daughter."

  "but if your being one it's the truth." a said
  she starts to get angry and this is a girl who is starting to develop into someone who will not back down, which is a good thing...sometimes and she says "I'm not being a bitch."
I begin to see this conversation as a little absurd for some reason and I start to think it is funny and I laugh, this only servers to get her more angry, she now thinks I am laughing at her because she is being a bitch. I laugh more because they are both questioning me and using the word bitch.
  I stop them and tell them that the word bitch is not a word that is socially acceptable and even though daddy used it you should not say it. Lets see if daddy can resist the urge to say it as his daughters become older and get further into puberty and bigger b...... I became a bigger pain as I got older then thirteen.

Home sweet home and what do we do now...

 We did as many things as we could the night before we left. We had a six-twenty flight in the morning and we got to bed after midnight.
  The alarm went off at three-thirty and Teri got up a little later. I got up around four to get the girls up and they were so worn out that I carried Elena into the living room and put her on the couch, they slept in their clothes , but it must of been too hot because I had to retrieve Elena's pants. It didn't bother her sleeping on the couch with no pants on and no blanket, should I be worried?  Nastia I carried second and they slept a littler longer while I pupped off their sheets and made the beds. I collected garbage and we threw out all opened items that we felt the next group would not use. We left some soda in the cupboard in hopes the next group would use it. And at about five we left for the airport. The first sight we saw after dropping off the car was a long line at the check in that we did not anticipate. Who would figure anyone would be up at five AM to leave Orlando. Teri said " we're not going to make it" and I thought she was right, I said nothing.
  We got our first lucky break when an official guy comes out and asks if anyone is leaving on a six-twenty flight? So we went to the head of the line and used out pre-printed boarding passes and our pre-paid baggage passes and hustled off security.
  We went through, being familiar with how it is done from the earlier flight, shoes off, belts off, money, whats left in containers, computers out of bags etc. It all went off smoothly and we moved quickly to our tram to the boarding gates. I redressed on the tram and felt cheap, like I'd had a one  well lets not get into that.
  The tram pulls into the station with everyone fully dressed and ready to hurdle the last leg of the marathon, getting to gate 33 and passing all the food places that their was no time for. An executive decision is made, by Teri to stop in the bathrooms while half our group peels off to get some food. With minutes to spare we make the plane and jet off back to reality.
  Two and change hours later we are in the metro area and most of our bags are collected, Vasanti's bag will show up two days later. Our car service is right on time and we are rushed back home.
We get there before eleven AM and what do you do now? Everyone wandered around for several hours, some ate,are we hungry/ some slept. Reality was beginning to creep back upon us and no one wanted to face it. It is amazing how much stress there is in our daily lives and how we get used to it and ignore it until we get the chance to get away from it. I went to work the next day my head still in the clouds, when my boss called me and said nothing is going on today, go home and I was glad, I was next to useless. The girls were just getting up when I got back and there were several hour more left to our vacation.

Saturday at the end of our vacation

Saturday we ran slower then we had all week. I guess the thing that slowed us down the most was Elena taking a fake shower. Her hair was wet and she looked for all intent as if she had. Except her hair  looked greasy. Under questioning she refused  to admit that she  that she only got in the shower and wet herself. She took a real shower and we finally got under way about an hour late. we got to Epcot around Eleven and then went by bus to the animal kingdom, we planned to go back to Epcot later.
Disney World was closed for the second time this week and it was a good thing we went on Friday. The crowds were massive.
  The first place we hit at Animal kingdom was the lion king experience. Teri loved it from the last time we were here. It was good. the next place was the safari and we finally got on a couple of rides about midday.I got a Margarita, even eight bucks it was good, it took the edge off a tiring week. I wanted a second one, but getting drunk at Disney, even if it was the animal kingdom didn't seem right.
  We finished most of the Animal kingdom and went over to Epcot to have Mexican food, big mistake. It was wall to wall people and it took us twenty minutes to get to the Mexican pavilion. We knew there was no open tables that night but we figured we'd try anyway. Worst that could happen I figured was I'd get a Margarita, one of the best I'd ever had back when Teri and I were on our honeymoon and we'd eat somewhere else. The place was jammed we threaded our way along narrow rows of people while watching the second best display of fireworks I'd ever seen. At the Pavilion I went inside and was not surprised when I was told there was not tables. the girls went on a ride inside the building and about thirty seconds after the fireworks ended about three hundred people came in and the line that was about six people stretched almost out the door. The room was difficult to walk in it was so crowded. I squeezed out the door when Teri called and said she was outside. We had seen the fireworks and there was only the overcrowded takeout area that I would of considered eating at, but we were all waited out and decided to go to a Chinese buffet we'd seen near the house.
  The Chinese food was good. I sat next to Amanda and she is at the age that the most important thing in her life is her cell phone to the point that she was on it so much that just about everyone in the group made a comment. I told Nancy that if she let me take care of the problem I would buy Amanda a new phone in about two weeks after I smashed her phone and we got back from vacation. Nancy for better or worse said no.
  Well as I said we were eating Chinese food and I was sitting next to Amanda and she had Pop pop's phone out, I guess her battery was dead, does anyone see where this is heading? No, I don't owe her a cell phone, but my frustration level had reached it maximum. It was a bad idea for us to sit next to each other and I opened my mouth. I told her in a calm voice that her biggest memory of this vacation was going to be a cell phone and her reply was yep or something like that. I got bothered by the flip response and went on about how she was being a child and some other things and I finished saying that by talking to her about this I was going to have trouble with Aunt Teri over this just as Teri saw asking me what was going on.
  As if on cue, Amanda gets up and storms out. I tell Nancy I'm sorry but I just could not take it any more and Nancy says it's her battle to deal with.
  Never having been an Adult before who had to deal with teenagers who were acting badly, I looked back to the time when I was being a snot and my Uncle had to deal with me. I tried to remember what it was like and how he acted, I drew a blank. So like all my life , I winged it and let it blow over and acted like nothing had happened the next morning.

It's Friday, tempers are short and the dogs are barking

Yesterday we stood in line for at least five hours, the day before it was about the same. Today was little different.
  We got up at the usual seven am, but there was not purpose in our movements, everyone was burned out. We ate left overs and English muffins for breakfast and got on the road about nine-thirty. It would of been earlier, but we had to send Elena back three times to properly dry her hair.
  At Disney World we headed over to tomorrow land. We wanted to get onto Space mountain and we intended to circle the park counter-clock wise to save time and steps. Well it sorta worked.
  We started at a ride called Stitches great escape, I think the girls rated it as just above a dud. These are the danger duo who always look interested, but not scared and maybe a little excited on all of those nasty roller coaster rides we have uncovered.
  The next ride was Space Mountain. The time clock said the wait was an hour. We got on at eleven and we got off after one pm. We then had lunch and went toward fantasy land and got side tracked at the Haunted House, which the girls said over and over again "this is not scary" . And it wasn't, it was just plain fun.

One of the Universal coasters, it's too sick

  We got out of the Haunted house and it was getting dark and we were still making our way toward fantasy land and it's a small world.
  We somehow detoured into Liberty square and got to see the hall of Presidents. I've seen this several time and I think the first time was at the nineteen-sixty-four worlds fair and either Johnson or Kennedy was the final speaker. Then I saw it on our honeymoon when Clinton was the president and now O'Bama is the final speaker. they still have Lincoln do the Gettysburg address and every time I hear it it means more and more as I get older. The whole show means more and more and makes me feel very lucky.
  By now it was dark and we were still heading toward it's a small world and we finally make it. This ride too I saw at the nineteen-sixty-four world's fair and it has changed. All the nations are pretty much still represented, but a few politically incorrect things have been removed and the song doesn't get sung over and over like it used to and at the end all the nations sing it together. In this version the music is all you hear and it is not sung. Also, the oriental children don't sing with an accent any more.
  We then decided to get something to eat and no one was really hungry so we got ice cream and ate it just off of Liberty square near Mickey's philharmagic. It was about eight I think and we got treated to the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen bar none. The fireworks lit up the sky. There were more of them they went higher and they were brighter and they were bigger and there was more of them. It was amazing.
  After that the girls went on a couple of kiddie rides and we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean and the we went to the run away train and we ended the day after eleven at night at Aladdin's magic carpet ride another kids ride. It was another long day with lots of miles and lots of waiting. I would not trade this night and the fireworks we saw for anything.

Thursday and it was another long one.

We had a long tough day and it was very crowded and the lines were long. We waited for two hours to get into Twister and about the same for Revenge of the Mummy and by then it was after three and we tried to find a way into Islands of Adventure and we managed to find it and were told the park had just reopened after being at capacity and we figured what was another line.

  their was no line to get into Islands, we went directly to the Wizarding world and waited on a line for three hours to get tickets, then we got into the wizarding world and waited over two hours to get on a ride simulator that everyone loved except for me, I get motion sickness on those types of rides. We then got some butter beer that was just cream soda with a little extra cream put on top. By then we were exhausted and we got some dinner at a place called Pasta more. It is now one -eighteen and we will be getting up in six hours to conquer Disney world. Watch out Uncle Walt the twisted sisters are coming.

A Very busy Disney MGM Studio Park

We got up at seven this morning and everyone's energy was a little low after the last two days. We ate breakfast at the house and got to the park around eleven. Not one of our stellar efforts. the problem is we are up late and get to bed late and don't move to quickly in the morning. We can't get out of the rut.

  The first place we hit at Hollywood Studio formerly Disney MGM was The Hollywood Tower of Terror it's a great ride. You go up in a large elevator after you hear a story about an elevator accident which killed four people. At the end you look out on the park just before the elevator drops several stories, then comes back up and drops a second time. It must drop about four times before the ride ends. It was great.
  The bad part of the ride was the seventy-five minutes we spent waiting on line.

Getting Lunch at Hollywood Studio

  It was afternoon so we went for lunch, which took twenty plus minutes to get, the park was alot more crowded then Sea World. Prices were about the same. Lunch was a small fortune. The weather was sunny and until the sun went down the tempature was bearable.
 Walking out at nine o'clock the tempature was about forty-four degrees. Congers was thirty-one.
  After Lunch we went to the aerosmith ride and spent two hours waiting for a very exciting minute or so of a roller coaster
 By then it was getting cold and the sun was starting to set and we figured we better explore the rest of the park.

Aerosmith ride

  We got to see muppetts three D, Indiana Jones action adventure among other things. We waited on line for ice cream about twenty minutes. It was a very quick day all we seemed to do is wait and freeze. Tomorrow is Universal and I think we will all bring exta jackets. Todays Jackets were not enough.

Tuesday in the park

We all stayed up late doing all those parent things that kids just take for granted and always ask why can't I stay up too?

  Teri and her sister and niece and Visanta and Tharsha all piled into the car around midnight and went shopping for food for this morning. We lacked nothing this morning. Of course they were out until two in the morning and we all didn't get to sleep early and we tried to get up early, managing seven am
  We went to Sea world because it was going to rain and it would be an easier park to cover. We got there around ten-thirty and managed to cover most of the park before it rained and started to get cold. Amanda had a bad reaction to some medicine and spent the better part of the morning in the first aid tent. I went on the sickest roller coaster today, The Manta. The girls wanted to go on it and I almost chickened out but I went .

The Manta roller coaster sea world

   We waited on line for almost an hour and when we got to the top we got on another line. This one was short and we sat down in out seats. An attendant came by to bring down the shoulder harness and he gave it a little shake before he left. Then the seats tilted back. The top stayed where it was and the bottom tilted back so you looked at the ground. You then started to move forward. At this point I realized I'd made a mistake. Could I starting screaming like a little girl now and would they stop the ride and let me off or should I just grit my teeth and hope lunch and breakfast would stay where they belong. I'm the silent type so I grit my teeth.
  We went up the long incline looking down about three stories. At the top we did the usual swoosh down. This roller coaster left you feeling weightless for a moment, loved the feeling. then you felt like you were falling, like in one of those dreams. Then you swooshed up from the bottom and I'm going oh god, oh god, I hear my daughters screaming and having a good time and I realize as you get older you just realize that thrill rides are not any scarier you just realize it does happen rides do fail, kids don't.
  We do a loop  and a twist and we are coming into the home stretch and I'm thinking god don't go around again don't go around again and my girls are going Is that all? can we go again? that's not fair, lets go again.
  I get off all rubber legged glad that I survived and remembering that if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger and I felt, or would later feel stronger. My stomach would not recover and when it came to the Kracken later, which was not half as insane as the Manta, I would pass for fear of re3funding my recently purchased ice cream.

  It rained about mid day for about an hour and it got chilly and we left our jackets in the car and we got rid of our passes into the park figuring we didn't need them again, but to get out and get back in you needed a hand stamp and a ticket so we were S. O. L.
 We toughed it out until about seven when we all found some hoodies for around thirty dollars, which in any theme park is reasonable.
  We hung around for shamou at eight o'clock and the hoodies were money well spent, it got cold.
  Sea World did up Christmas in a big way and it was nice. I realized that sometimes I go around apologising for my holiday, no ones fault, but here it was christmas and it was Christs birthday and it was all over the park.
  We left the park at nine went looking for Cracker Barrel and either took a wrong turn or it was closed and the lights were out cause we could not find it. We ate at Applebees and it was good.

It's happened again

Well Intrepid blogger fans after a two year hiatus, the terrible twosome, the twisted sister from Birobidjan have hit the road again. For some reason Santa Claus saw fit to leave two packed bags of our girls clothes and two invitations to visit Disney World the day after Christmas and here it is the day after Christmas and it is eleven pm and a small group of eight sit comfortably just south of Disney World  ready to assault the most revered of all vacation locations in America and it will never be the same again so get down here quick if you want to see what it was like before the 'Sistas', who think they got booty get done with it. I'm sorry for that last sentence I had to listen to rap music today and even the whitest among us (me) think they got rhythm and can get up and dance with the best of them. Hey I'm sorry I was born a  T.A. white boy whose idea of dancing goes no further then the box set and can't seem to find anything to do with his arms but that is all for another time.
  Christmas morning, the girls are whispering in their room somewhere about three-thirty so I go in and tell them it is too early to get up and to go back to sleep. It always amazes me when they listen to met and sometime about six or seven Teri gets up and I turn on the radio figuring I'll get up soon about eight the girls again ask to get up I tell them in a few minutes and I get dressed. I set up the camera and Teri and I call them down. It always cheers me up when I see their childish innocents. And I also remember that they are two very split people. They are at some points very much younger then their ages and at others when you talk to them you realize alot of their childhood was stolen from them by their past.
  They come running down the stairs full of excitement and anticipation about the holiday, yelling wow and oh my god and this is the best day ever. And every year you think this is the last one they will believe in Santa Claus and it's sad because we just got them and they are already changing and they are not the same kids we first saw that July night who would not go to bed or even the ones who we bought home a little over two years ago, they are both becoming young women. And yes one day hopefully young ladies.

Surveying the fruits of Christmas

  When the excitement was done and the present were all unwrapped, all bought by Teri because I let myself get caught up in my job and have just enough time to buy my wife a few gifts mostly because I would feel bad if I made her pick her own out. there is a feeling of contentment, I hope Teri feels it too, because it is fleeting, but it is there and it is nice. After that you start to ruin it by telling the girls to help clean up the wrapping paper or you feel that they are pigs because it was left all over and they need to get their little back sides down here to help clean up and the world is back to normal except this year the barely used gifts will sit unused for a week as the dogs feel abandoned at Sallyann's we will enjoy a well deserved break from every day and that means stories everyday for a little while I hope you enjoy it

Another busy prechristmas weekend, again

Friday night I was supposed to make a delivery to a customer in Putnam Valley about an hour away from everywhere. I got side tracked going to the office and didn't pick up the milk until almost six. It was an hour from the office to Putnam Valley and an hour from Putnam Valley to home. So being me, I cut the middleman out and went home.
  That meant I would have to go and do it on Saturday. Teri decided to go to work on Saturday, because she is over whelmed and there is not enough time with her working fifty to sixty hours a week.
  I get the girls up at eight, Teri had left an hour earlier and would not be home until six or so. We dressed and left on our field trip to Putnam Valley.
  We made our delivery of three cases half and half quarts and a case of pints of half and half. I treat the girls to breakfast. Nastia rediscovers she likes bacon, lettuce and tomato on a roll without mayo. Elena goes with a simple bagel with butter. I get a sausage, egg and cheese.
  You'd think after all this fun and adventure the girls would not want to take another ride for an hour to see a cow at the opening of a new store in Danbury.
  An hour later the girls are petting a year old calf and don't want to leave when it is time to go to karate. We arrive at karate a little late and they find out it is wood breaking day. They start with one piece of wood each. When they see another kid who has move experience do four they suddenly start digging into their bags to get more wood. The instructor lets them try and they succeed in busting one of three and on their second attempt they break the remaining two. They were thrilled and brought their broken wood home to show their mother. She will be properly thrilled. Then she will yell at them when they leave the bags in the living room.
  After karate, I again treat them to a meal out, McDonald's (big spender) and I get a sandwich from a pizza parlor.
  The day is starting to wind down, it's three-thirty, I've read some, I've eaten, I'm tired. Then to my horror, I realize it is three-thirty and the house is not clean and Teri will be home soon!! I don't clean the house often and Teri rarely asks me to and she didn't this time, but can you imagine a very tired Teri coming home to a dirty house after working a full day on a Saturday. I was paralyzed with terror. What should I do first. I debated packing a bag and running for it. But I manned up and got out the dust mop. My wife hates the dust mop, says it just pushes around the dirt. I find it is quick and does a good job on our wood floors. She calls and says she is going to the store and will be home a little late. I breath a sigh of relief while telling her she has been away for so long, but on second thought, you did have a hard day at work, so take you time. no sense pushing your luck.
  House was clean  when she got home and dinner was about ready when she walked in. She purchased half of it. Life is good. Now if I could just get some time to go Christmas shopping, put up the light outside and decorate the tree we'd be set.

Christmas House cookies

It is year three of the great experiment. The girls are thriving and are developing into right little american teenagers. The younger one is being hit hard by puberty and has the attitude to show for it. The older one is developing as the younger one in to fine american teenagers. Why I repeated myself is the wife came and distracted me telling me healthy children need three meals a day and if they were not hungry when we offered them food we should offer them food at what would be a normal dinner time. I feel we are catering a little too much to them and they should eat when it is time, not when they want to. Maybe I'm being mean and not stating the problem as it really is. I'm sure my wife would have another opinion. But you know what they say about opinions.

   It is before Christmas and it is time for Christmas cookie houses. Starting several years ago Grammy decided making Christmas cookies like we did when we were kids was too complex and needed to change. Too many types of cookies and too many people, so she figured she would build cookie houses from sugar cookie recipe and everyone could decorate them.

   One year I thought a light house would be a good idea and Grammy and I built one. This year it got a little out of hand. Billy got a castle, Denis got a house with a heliport and I got a version of our house that Teri decorated.

   The girls got regular houses and everyone had a great time

Nastia fest 2011 or how to turn thirteen in style

The Day was fully booked and everyone was excited, except me. My wife feels I'm a nature born stick in the mud. I make eeyore look happy. That maybe the truth, but I need down time, my own time. With that aside, I was pleased to do what I could.
  The day started simply enough, Nastia wanted bagels for breakfast and I had to go out to the store and run a few errands. Teri said don't she had to go to the grocery, which was one of my stops, I forgot about the others, I got CRS. It's getting worse as I get older, I think, cause I got CRS and can't remember.
  I go to get bagels adding a quick trip to my mother's in which on a good day would be a twenty minute trip. Of course I go the way they have been tearing up the road for the last three years and don't remember it's a bad way to go until I'm stuck in traffic. I also get behind that guy, the only guy on the road who decides to go five miles per hour under the speed limit. He turns off and his brother turns in front of me doing the same thing. The quick trip takes over an hour and Teri is calling me asking me if everything is OK, I've been gone so long.
  The next event is Karate, where Nastia tries to act more responsible. In karate, you are supposed to answer the sensi when he says something. She goes over board and answers him every time he opens his mouth, it was sweet to watch.
  The next adventure was our trip to bounce, the trampoline amusement place. It was empty when we got there, by the time we left it was full. I sent two hours watching the girls bounce on trampolines and thinking about Christopher Reeves and his horse riding accident. Then some big kids, I guess you could call them guys, they were old enough, I don't know any more. They were all about six foot tall well muscled and all between 160 and 200 lbs. I told the girls to stay away from them. If they fell on you they would never know it. They were not idiots, they were doing double flips and trying for triples. But again they were careful and considerate.
  This two hours of enjoyment tires me out and I have a little fight with Teri and we go home.
I cook Kutletta ( Russian meatballs, sorta) with pierogies and a vegetable, it was a good dinner. At around seven in the evening a few people come over for cake, Amanda made and Ice Cream cake, Teri picked up. It was good.
  The next day, Sunday we go out to dinner at the hard wok, Nastia's restaurant of choice. About eight thirty on Sunday Nastia fest ends. Agood time was had by all. Seems like I said that before.

Another I can't believe I heard that story

Two quick stories. the first one happened over the weekend. Nastia was dressed and she was going to go outside in a tee shirt. She is getting to that age where she really shouldn't. So I tell her to put on a bra. Most likely not the last time I will say that. Her reply, Daddy, it's the weekend my boobs need to be free.
  Next story, We were all watching TV a few nights ago and it was time to go to bed and I tell Elena to hurry up and go to bed. So what does she do she gets up and moons me right there in the living room. I try to ignore it so she starts shaking it at me. I really didn't need to see that.

Fun was had by all

I was going to call this the long pee to home or the first time I heard my daughter say s..t, but when I walked in and Teri asked how was it I said fun was had by all and that seemed more appropriate.
The day started with the girls asking to go bike riding and I had to do some work. I told them that after I come back we could go. I got back about 3pm and they still remembered that I had promised. So we put some air in the tires and off we went. It was the first time I let the girls ride their bikes on the road and then on the sidewalk to the new walkway around Conger's lake. They biked and I walked the about two miles to the park. I figured they would ride around the park and we would come home. No such luck. they wanted to play on the swings, talk to Sally Ann who was in the park. Then finally play basketball with some stranger and his daughter.
  I told them it was time to leave, the sun was going down and the air was getting a chill in it and I figured by the time we got home it would be dark. We start bike riding and walking and about a third of the way home
  Nastia informs me she has to pee.
   I say  "I'm sorry there is no place to go until we get home."
  She says  "Well I can go in the bushes."
  No You have to wait until we go home."
  She then informs me she is tired and hungry. I give her a push to get her going in the right direction and we push on. We get to the new wooden walkway around the lake and she trips as she tries to push the bike. As she tries to stop going a over it I hear her go "Ah sh.t"
  I know they curse, and when they spoke Russian only, they spoke like truck drivers, but this still surprised me, I don't know why, but it did. I tell her it is in my parent contract that if I ever hear her talk like that again I must beat her, she smiles and says "whatever" for that I smack her.
   During all this good old Elena is riding her bike like she is taking a tour and taking in all the sites. She stops and waits and I push Nastia to keep her going. When she gets on to wooden walkway, about halfway and she hears that Nastia has to pee and she is tired and hungry, well I'm sure you can guess that suddenly I had two kids with the same problems. We struggle up the hill on Lake road and Nastia shows me the bar that was giving her cherries earlier in the school term and the same place she will never stop into again until she has passed her twenty-first birthda and then hopefully not.
  Finally we get home and I tell the girls to go inside and finally pee. And much fun was had by all.

From the more then I really wanted to know file

This is a quick one and it is one I will be hearing about when Elena is in her twenties and she is reading this for the first time and she will come to me and say " did you really have to write that down? and I would never say that."
  The other day ( Elena, it came from your mother, so we all know it is true, because she never forgets nothin!)Elena goes to her mother, Mom, I want to wear a shirt that show my boobs are getting bigger.
  Sorry that's the funny story. I'm sure all women can relate to that story, it's just coming too quickly. Next it will be the other stuff and she is already a cranky little b...h and her and her sister fight sometimes over the stupidest things and their mother is having hot flashes and the dog is a female and she is chewing up every piece of furniture in the house in sympathy. Someone quick, come and save me, please!!

Going Russian via Nyack

It is Sunday night in November. Tony has been gone just a few weeks and we are all still a bit of a mess. Teri booked the Disney trip. We leave the day after Christmas and return New Years day. it should be grand.
  There was a small Russian festival today at the Russian church in Nyack. It is the same one I took the girls to when they first came over. They got a big kick out of it then.This time we told them we were going out and again we refused to tell them where we were going. What's wrong with us? As Nastia said,  "Why can't you just tell us where we are going?" I guess, because IT'S MORE FUN. I told them we were going for a walk in Nyack. they said as long as we are not going to church. I of course said we were going and I thought you liked church? Their answer was yes we do, but not today.
  We got to the Church about one in the afternoon and stayed about two hours. we walked around and kept telling the girls to touch nothing. One or two vendors were dumb enough to say it was OK for them to touch, that their wares were not breakable. That sounded like a challenge and I hoped the girls did not rise to it. They kept touching stuff and then Elena started walking around saying "I want to buy something, I want to buy something." I asked her how much money she had , she said none because we did not tell them where we were going. I think I just hit on why we don't tell them where we are going.
  We ended up buying a variety of food, spending forty dollars and having a good time. We ate dumplings, cabbage rolls filled with meat . We tried getting some Kutleta, Russian meatballs, but they were out. I would like to compare mine to their's so I can improve mine.
  We got back around two and Teri, that brave soul took the girls and a friend Jennifier ice skating and then she took the girls, our two to the grocery, I expected her to come back crazy. I had a nice quiet afternoon. Teri came back surprisingly sane.